Peter Molyneux shows off some big new features in Fable 2 - dynamic co-opeartive play, the new combat system, and the ability to gun down your husband in front of your children.

The god game genre is a personal favourite. I'm by no means alone; there's a big list of people that enjoy them - given The Sims is the best-selling PC game ever it's not too much of a stretch to say that it's a pretty popular genre.

In my mind though, the guy that invented the genre was Peter Molyneux, so it was with much fanboy-induced excitement that I went into the unveiling of one of the big new features from the upcoming Fable 2, the sequel to the hugely popular Xbox/PC role playing game.

Molyneux began by informing us that he was going to unveil a big new feature, as-yet unannounced for Fable 2. Before he could begin some guy from some gaming website pointed out that the “secret” had actually been available on the Wikipedia page for Fable 2 for some time – and it was multiplayer.

Molyneux seemed singularly unimpressed by this, but the show rolled on and the actual secret was further qualified: co-operative play. Not only that, but co-op of a dynamic nature – meaning that at any point in the game, another play can grab a controller, jump into the game, and play.

Not only that, achievements made by the other player in co-op will be carried over to that player's character in their own game. So you can, for example, jump into a mate's game, score some experience and gold, and then take it back into your own game. The distribution can be controlled by the 'primary' player as well – so you can help other characters grow quickly if desired.

The extensions to the combat system were also demonstrated. Molyneux pointed out the focus was on making sure any player could pick it up and fight using the full range of combat options – swordplay, gunplay (another new feature) and magic. Various combo moves are available; advanced players can still find some depth in the combat without compromising the 'pick up and play' factor.

Another big feature of the game is freedom, and empowering the player to be able to do (almost) as much as he could possibly want. The demonstration for this was somewhat hilarious; Molyneux and his co-op partner visited his family back at his house. The husband NPC (Molyneux's character was female) expressed some disappointment at the late return – understandable when you realise the wife had been gone for 6 months. Mid-tirade, the co-op partner busted out a pistol and shot the husband, right in front of their child.

Bear that in mind when choosing co-op partners – they can wreak all sorts of havoc in your game. Interestingly this raised the question of violence and censorship; Molyneux's attitude at this point seems to imply they're going to allow as much freedom as possible, but within limits - for example, you won't be able to kill children. It detracts from the 'freedom' aspect, but it sounds like they just don't want to cross some lines. Further, while you can actually do the nasty with other characters, there'll be no sexually explicit material or visuals in the game.

Another feature was demonstrated during Microsoft's keynote – the availability of a number of mini-games. Not a feature, I hear you say? Well, all these mini-games are actually available and playable independently of Fable 2 over Xbox Live Arcade. For example, you'll play a gambling game, and if you're lucky you'll win some money – money that will then be available to your character in the game. Neat!

Overall, the game is shaping us nicely and looks like a worthy successor to the best-selling original. At this stage it is an Xbox 360 exclusive, so whether we'll see a PC version further down the track is anyone's guess. Molyneux's magic touch at work.